Today’s news that a New Zealand national has been ordered to pay $15.5 million US dollars in fines due to his participation in an international spam network, highlights the seriousness with which authorities are starting to take malware production. But it also reveals the problems with enforcement that currently pervade the system, as the man in question will not have to pay the fine unless he sets foot on American soil.
Last month we highlighted how malware production was dispersing. The traditional centres of production (such as Brazil, the US and Korea) were starting to produce less malware, whereas other countries like India and Vietnam were beginning to produce more.
Now, Vietnam has become the number one source of spam – being responsible for more than 10 per cent of the worlds spam emails – and the UK has entered the virus production charts, being responsible for 2.79 per cent of the world’s viruses. (Brazil, the US and Korea still dominate when it comes to virus production.)
As we have said before, it is incredibly important that there is effective international policing and enforcement when it comes to cybercrime. Yes, it’s good news that governments are willing to levy such massive fines against perpetrators, but what is the use of such a fine if it the offender can simply choose not to pay it?
Although we have developed strong measures to track and trace production, and we can do a considerable amount to protect the end user, there needs to be a substantial international effort from the authorities to educate the end user and co-operate over the policing and enforcement of malware production.